Actress Scarlett Johansson has launched a scathing attack on Ivanka Trump as 'cowardly' and 'disappointing - weeks after playing her on Saturday Night Live.

The 32-year-old used an appearance in New York to lace into the president's daughter and adviser, accusing her of 'standing behind a man'.

Johansson played Ivanka in a skit on SNL last month, advertising a perfume called 'Complicit'.

On Thursday she appeared at the Women in the World conference in New York, which is run by Tina Brown, the former magazine editor who is a close friend of Hillary Clinton.

The actress was there to take part in a discussion described as 'breaking up the boys club, an intimate conversation with Scarlett Johansson about her work, her activism and motherhood'.

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Hitting Ivanka: Scarlett Johansson used an interview with Arianna Huffington (right) to attack Ivanka Trump as 'cowardly' for not standing up to her father. She did not spell out which issues she wanted Ivanka to speak out against her father on

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She was interviewed by Ariana Huffington, the founder of the liberal website Huffington Post, who began by playing the SNL sketch.

Johnsson immediately weighed in on Ivanka, 35, who used an interview with CBS earlier this week to say: 'If being complicit is wanting to be a force for good and to make a positive impact, then I’m complicit.'

The actress - who had endorsed Democratic presidential loser Hillary Clinton - told Huffington that Ivanka's interview with Gayle King on CBS was 'baffling'.

Ivanka had said on the interview 'I would say not to conflate lack of denouncement with silence... I think there are multiple ways to have your voice heard' as she emphasized that she did not always agree with her father.

The actress told Arianna Huffington that Ivanka's interview with Gayle King on CBS was 'baffling'

But Johansson said: 'You can't have it both ways. If you take a job as a public advocate, then you have to advocate publicly.'

She added: 'It's such an old-fashioned concept to stand behind a man – what about standing in front of him and beside him?'

And she called Ivanka's position 'uninspired' and 'cowardly', and said she was 'disappointed' in her.

Arriving: At the same time as Scarlett Johansson was attacking her, Ivanka arrived at West Palm Beach on Air Force One with her three children, holding baby Theodore in her arms

She also suggested that it must be hard for Ivanka, whom she knew from growing up in New York, to find herself in the position she was in.

'She has the power to make a big impact just by being vocal.

'She's very well spoken, smart and intelligent woman and engaging. It baffles me.'

Johansson, who recently split from her husband Romain Dauriac, was not asked about their custody battle over two-year-old daughter Rose, despite the panel being about 'motherhood'.

She was however asked about running for office, and said 'I would never rule anything out.'